day. Much of the successes and accomplishments of this year are due to the instructors, Colonel Matera and Sergeant Shoemaker. Without their leadership and steady guidance, the program would not be what it is today. Also, our hard working senior staff is responsible for many of the unit’s achievements. Their planning and focus has truly made an impact on the school, community, and the corps. I would also like to recognize the ca-dets. It is the cadets that truly make our corps dis-tinguished; they are the

Letter from

Public Affairs

As the semester slowly winds to a halt, underclass-man look forward to the relaxing summer awaiting them; while graduating seniors prepare for the daunting yet exhilarating trepidations of their future. Looking back four years ago to when the program was still trying to find its way around school, it only seems fitting to say that it has grown in size and rep-utation. Each year has add-ed strength to the program and it only increases every-

embodiment of what being an AFJROTC cadet is all about; through their service and integrity they make all the difference. I challenge cadets to continue to strive for excellence in all that they do. With hard work and ded-ication nothing will stop them from achieving what they want in life. As I pass on the torch, I am humbled and honored to have been a part of the JROTC program and to have been part of such an amazing year. Thank you and enjoy!

-C/Captain Michelle Bernay

Public Affairs Officer

Vista Murrieta Air Force JROTC

JROTC has had such a posi-

tive influence on my life and

I know that the experiences,

memories and friendships

made in this program will

last a lifetime. I have been so

humbled to have served as

the Commander this year and

I wish good luck to the ca-

dets of next year as well as

the seniors who will be mov-

ing on to do outstanding

things in the next chapter of

their life.

This unit has grown expo-

nentially over the years and

has made a lasting impact on

our school and community.

Never forget to live your life

by the Air Force values of

Integrity First, Service Be-

fore Self, and Excellence in

all we do. Our unit has such

a bright future, and I am so

honored to have been a part

of it these last four years.

Sincerely,

C/Lt. Col. Dominic Parisi

Cadet Commander,

2012-2013

Cadet Newsletter

Inside this issue:

Past/Upcoming

Events

2

Cadet Goals 2

Nicolas Cage Rage 3

Student of the Month 3

SNCO Council 4

Golden Bear Results 4

Cadet Newsletter Spring 2013

Integrity First

Service Before Self

Excellence in All We Do

Message from The

Cadet Commander

Editor: C/1st Lieutenant Angelo Mendoza

Page 2 Cadet Newsletter

Past Events

Unit Inspection

Military Ball

Orange Glen Drill Meet

8th Grade Parent Night

Open House

Unit Drill Competition

Care Packages

Campus Beautification

Your Mamma’s Cookies

Fundraiser

Golden Bear Drill Meet

Special Olympics

May 2013

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10 11

12 13 14 15 16 17 18

19 20 21 22 23 24 25

26 27 28 29 30 31

0900-1300

Uniform

Turn-In

Uniform

Turn-In

Memorial

Day

Awards

Ceremony

0900-1300

Cadet Goals

Community Goals

1. Complete a canned food drive to donate 2,000 cans to St. Martha’s Church Food Bank.

2. Complete and mail care packages to deployed ser-vice members.

School Goals

1. Complete a campus wide beautification project.

2. Conduct color guards for all requested school events.

Unit Goals

1. Complete a minimum 3,000 hours of community service.

2. Conduct a drill competi-tion to include VMHS ca-dets.

1800-2000

End of the

Year Luau

From right to left: Military Ball 2013, Campus Beautification, Campus Beautification, Unit Drill Meet.

1500-1718

By: Michelle Bernay

The first annual scholar bowl adopted by Mr. Nguyen, ASB Director, was won by some of our own JROTC cadets: Sa-vannah Pham, Richard Shoe-maker, Angelo Mendoza, and Dominic Parisi of the team they dubbed Nicolas Cage Rage.

The bowl consisted of a bracket system with 32 teams of four who battled against each other, for the chance to win the $800 cash prize. Questions consisted of: math, science, literature, history, sports, and pop culture. The game was very fast paced, so team members had to really know their stuff. Each mem-ber of the team seemed to have a unique way of answer-ing the questions.

Parisi remarks, "Everyone on our team did have a job, even though we never really as-signed it. I think everyone knew Savannah was there for math and pop culture, I was there for history and politics, Angelo was there for all the random science stuff, and Richard was in charge of all

the miscellaneous questions.”

Competing in the rounds was no picnic as Nicolas Cage Rage went up against a lot of really difficult teams.

“We just wanted to do this for fun” said Pham, “Mostly be-cause we thought we were going to lose and we wanted to do it while laughing.”

“We just wanted to do this for fun, mostly because we thought

we were going to lose and we wanted to do it

while laughing.”

Although they lost a round during the semi-finals, a slight mishap gave them a second chance and got them into the final round.

The final round was against the team Caucasian Invasion, and was held in the main gym, where students and teachers were able to watch the compe-tition. It seemed as though the prize could have gone to ei-ther team; however in the end, Nicolas Cage Rage won with a slight lead of 260 points to 250. Everyone cheered as the team was given their prize that would go towards college tuition. Afterwards, when asked how they came together as a team Parisi said, “We came together at the last mi-nute on the last day and that’s how we came together as a team. We are all friends but we didn’t expect to be on the team together. I think what drove us to win was being the underdogs because not a lot of people expected us to win.”

because of the other people that got elected. A lot of other people have a higher grade point average or their more involved in school; but people have mentioned that I am well deserving of it.”

“I’m actually pretty humbled because of the other people that

got elected.”

Colonel Matera nominated Parisi and then the nomina-tion went to the Chamber of Commerce. As a cadet and student at Vista, Parisi strives to always uphold the cadet core values and honor code. He began JROTC much like any other freshmen excited yet anxious to be a part of

By: Michelle Bernay

Our Cadet Commander, Dom-

inic Parisi, 12th grade, was

selected as student of the

month for February. The

Murrieta Valley Chamber of

Commerce selects a group of

High School seniors and rec-

ognizes them through their

student of the month recogni-

tion program. The selected

students and their families are

invited to a breakfast with the

Chamber of Commerce mem-

bers. Parisi Remarks,

“I’m actually pretty humbled

something new. He was in-volved in Drill Team and Color Guard. In his sopho-more year he was 1st sergeant and as a junior, were the Ex-ecutive Officer and a Flight Commander. As a senior, he is the Cadet Commander and led the first Four – Man Armed Drill Team.

“I got invited to a breakfast where my dad, Colonel, Mr. Daniel all got a chance to talk about me and it was really heart touching about the way they talked about me and other students, said Parisi.”

After high school he plans on going to Colorado and going to school up there.

Page 3 Spring 2013

Student of

the Month

Nicolas

Cage Rage Flights of the

Month

September 2012:

Charlie Flight

October 2012:

Foxtrot and Golf Flight

November 2012:

Bravo Flight

January 2013:

Foxtrot Flight

February 2013:

Golf Flight

Flight

Commanders

of the Month

September 2012:

Domonique Moncada (B)

October 2012:

Savannah Pham (F)

November 2012:

Matthew McGuire (A)

January 2013:

James Edwards (E)

Nomination

Convention

Congratulations to Cadet Jet

Lewis, who was elected

ASB secretary and Savan-

nah Pham who was elected

the Senior Class Secretary/

Treasurer .

By: Michelle Bernay

Since the beginning of the year, the Cadet Senior Non-Commissioned Officers (SNCO) has made it their duty to mentor and help AS1’s in the program. As freshmen enter the program, sometimes they feel apprehen-sive and need a helping hand in feeling part of the unit. This is where the SNCOs come in.

The SNCOs are led by 1st sergeant Caroline Dutzi, who mentors and maintains the welfare of the enlisted corps. This is the first year of the SNCO council. The process of becoming a member of the SNCO council starts when a cadet is ready to lead in the thirty steps of drill. After they have efficiently completed it, they are eligible to be promot-ed to the rank of Cadet Master Sergeant. Once they are part of the council, they are dele-

gated to a flight and have a greater responsibility of being role models to them. What started out as a small council is now an even bigger one. Dutzi said,

“Everything has to be super organized; they have to know what they want, what they want to talk about, and they have to be effective.

SNCO’s have many responsi-bilities to their flight. “As an NCO, I help the flight com-mander, make sure the uni-forms are ready, and encour-age the cadets to come to the activities.” Claire Edwards, 10th grade.

Every Thursday the council meets and develops different plans to see what way they can better help the AS1’s.

“We motivate, inspire, and mentor the AS1’s” stated Sam Rueda, 10, “They have im-proved a lot since we started the SNCO program. They have become more involved

and you can actually see the change in their uniforms.”

“We motivate, inspire, and mentor the AS1’s. They have improved a

lot since we started the SNCO program.”

Not only do they help cadets, but also the unit. They were greatly appreciated during the campus beautification. Instead of cleaning just the quad, this year JROTC wanted to span the entire school. As a result of having many people in the program, it was difficult com-municating everything at once. The SNCO’s helped organize and motivate cadets, so there was more hard work and less confusion.

“By the end of the year our hope is for the AS1’s to take what we have taught them and to come back next year.” Dutzi said.

and color guard 2 was com-manded by Cadet Christina Rosas.

All of our competitive teams have been training for months, and it paid off.; in the end, we manage to place two of our teams, one in drill, and another in color guard, in the top five.

Our scores are as follows:

Color Guard 1: 3rd

Color Guard 2: 14th

Novice Drill: 5th

Varsity Drill: 14th

By: Angelo Mendoza

April 27– Our own JROTC Drill Teams and Color Guards performed exceptionally well at the 2013 Golden Bear Drill meet held at the Del Amo Fashion Center at Torrance California.

Our Varsity Drill team was commanded by Cadet Savan-nah Pham, and our Novice Drill Team was commanded by Cadet Michelle Bernay. color guard 1 was command-ed by Cadet Dominic Parisi

Page 4 Cadet Newsletter

Golden Bear

Drill Meet

Results

The Senior

NCO Council

Cadets of

the Quarter

1st Quarter 2012:

Kimberly Bertel

Bravo Flight, AS1

Andrew Appel

Delta Flight, AS1

Kevin Adcock

Echo flight, AS2

2nd Quarter 2012:

Jerick Portugal

Delta Flight, AS1

Samuel Rueda

Echo Flight, AS2

3rd Quarter 2012:

Ashley Ilasin

Delta Flight, AS1

Sabrina Drennen

Echo Flight, AS2